Richie's Hot Chicken
11224 HUEBNER RD #101, San Antonio, 78230
Area: Northwest Side
· Metro Health licence 1795237
Weak record · rank 88 of 112
Who publishes this, and what they sell. This guide is published by Viking Net, which sells technology services to restaurants — websites, apps, point-of-sale systems and card processing — including to businesses rated on this site. Every rating here is computed by a formula published in full from public records: health inspections, city 311 complaints, published awards, and the state sales-tax permit date. No business can pay to change its score, raise its rank, or have a low score removed, and none has ever been asked to. If that ever changes, this paragraph comes down first.
Latest health inspection
97/100 on Nov 4, 2025 (275 days ago)
Inspections start at 100 and lose points for each violation found. 69 or below is a failing inspection. A score describes one visit on one day — Metro Health says so itself — not the condition of the business today.
Inspection history — 3 on record
Open any inspection to see what the inspector actually found, in plain English, with the Food Code section it was cited under.
Nov 4, 2025 97 3 findings · 1 illness risk factor
Clean equipment or single-use items were stored where they get dirty again
Clean plates stacked under an unfinished ceiling or beside a hand sink are re-contaminated before anyone uses them.
“containers used to store clean utensils dirty with debris and water build up. Ensure containers used to store clean utensils are maintained clean and dry”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-903.11(A)(1) — Equipment, Utensils, Linens, and Single-Service and Single-Use Articles · inspection item 39
Equipment or utensils were not clean
Split into two standards: anything that touches food must be clean to sight and touch, and everything else must be free of built-up grease, dust and debris. This is the most cited line in the whole code.
“surfaces of equipment dirty with debris build up. Ensure equipment is cleaned on a schedule that will prevent build up”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-601.11(C) — Equipment, Food-Contact Surfaces, Nonfood-Contact Surfaces, and Utensils · inspection item 42
The premises were not cleaned often enough
Floors, walls, shelving, the areas under and behind equipment. This is the finding for build-up in the places nobody wants to reach.
“floor areas under fryers dirty with oil build up. Ensure floor areas are cleaned on a schedule that will prevent build up”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 6-501.12 — Cleaning, Frequency and Restrictions · inspection item 45
Jun 9, 2025 92 5 findings · 3 illness risk factors
Food was not held cold enough or hot enough
Between about 41°F and 135°F bacteria multiply fast. Food parked in that window for hours is the single most common cause of foodborne illness.
“coleslaw temping 52F on cold hold. Ensure food items are held at 41F or lower”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 3-501.16(A)(2) — Time/Temperature Control for Safety Food, Hot and Cold Holding · inspection item 2
The cooling or hot-holding equipment could not keep up
A fridge or steam table that cannot hold its temperature under real service load means everything inside it drifts into the danger zone.
“cold hold unit in cook line not holding required temperature. Ensure cold hold unit is able to maintain 41F or lower”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-301.11 — Cooling, Heating, and Holding Capacities · inspection item 27
Staff were not wearing effective hair restraints
Hats and hairnets are the visible half of a hygiene program. Inspectors read a kitchen without them as a kitchen not enforcing the rest.
“kitchen employee handling food items without a hair restraint. Ensure all kitchen staff handling food items are wearing a hair restraint”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 2-402.11 — Effectiveness · inspection item 35
Equipment or utensils were not clean
Split into two standards: anything that touches food must be clean to sight and touch, and everything else must be free of built-up grease, dust and debris. This is the most cited line in the whole code.
“surfaces of equipment dirty with debris build up. Ensure equipment is cleaned on a schedule that will prevent build up”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-601.11(C) — Equipment, Food-Contact Surfaces, Nonfood-Contact Surfaces, and Utensils · inspection item 42
The premises were not cleaned often enough
Floors, walls, shelving, the areas under and behind equipment. This is the finding for build-up in the places nobody wants to reach.
“floor areas under fryers dirty with oil build up. Ensure floor areas are cleaned on a schedule that will prevent build up”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 6-501.12 — Cleaning, Frequency and Restrictions · inspection item 45
Dec 5, 2024 92 6 findings · 4 illness risk factors
Reheated food did not reach a safe temperature
Food being reheated to hold on a steam table has to hit 165°F fast, which kills anything that grew while it was in the fridge.
“mac and cheese being reheated in hot hold temping 98F. Ensure food items are reheated to 165F and then transferred to hot hold”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 3-403.11(A) — Reheating for Hot Holding · inspection item 5
Food was stored where it could be contaminated
Boxes on the floor, food under a leaking line, product stored in the mop area. Anything at floor level catches splash and pests.
“food items in sacks stored on floor in dry storage area. Ensure food items are stored off the floor”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 3-305.11(A)(3) — Food Storage · inspection item 37
Clean equipment or single-use items were stored where they get dirty again
Clean plates stacked under an unfinished ceiling or beside a hand sink are re-contaminated before anyone uses them.
“utensil stored in between equipment. Ensure clean utensils are stored in a clean environment”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-903.11(A)(1) — Equipment, Utensils, Linens, and Single-Service and Single-Use Articles · inspection item 39
Staff ate, drank or used tobacco in a food area
An open drink in a prep area puts a mouth-contact surface next to food, and every sip is a hand-to-mouth-to-food route.
“employee meal stored on top of dry storage rack food items. Ensure employees eat meals in designated areas away from customer food items”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 2-401.11 — Eating, Drinking, or Using TOBACCO PRODUCTS · inspection item 35
Equipment or utensils were not clean
Split into two standards: anything that touches food must be clean to sight and touch, and everything else must be free of built-up grease, dust and debris. This is the most cited line in the whole code.
“surfaces of equipment dirty with debris build up. Ensure equipment is cleaned on a schedule that will prevent build up”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 4-601.11(C) — Equipment, Food-Contact Surfaces, Nonfood-Contact Surfaces, and Utensils · inspection item 42
The premises were not cleaned often enough
Floors, walls, shelving, the areas under and behind equipment. This is the finding for build-up in the places nobody wants to reach.
“floor areas under fryers dirty with oil build up. Ensure floor areas are cleaned on a schedule that will prevent build up”Inspector’s note · SA Metro Health
Food Code 6-501.12 — Cleaning, Frequency and Restrictions · inspection item 45
What these numbers do and do not mean
An inspection score describes one visit on one day. It is what one inspector recorded on one date at one address — Metro Health says so itself. It is not a standing condition, not a grade for the food, and not a prediction about your lunch. A kitchen that scored 88 in March may be spotless today, and one that scored 100 may not be.
A 311 complaint is a phone call, not a finding. The city records that a member of the public called. It is not a citation, not an investigation result, and not evidence that anything was wrong. The city files it against an address, so where two food businesses share one, neither the record nor we can tell them apart. We publish the count with its denominator and let you weigh it.
Awards are reported, not endorsed. Every recognition on this site carries its publisher, its year and a link to the page we read it on. We did not judge those contests and we do not vouch for them; where a publisher named a business rather than an address, the page says so.
Absence of data is never rendered as a finding. No inspection on record means no Bird Score — never a zero, never quietly ranked last. No award found means we searched 172 recognitions from 13 publishers and found none, which is a statement about press coverage and not about cooking.
If something here is wrong, we will fix it. Every figure links to the record it came from. Email us with the correction and we will check it against the source and correct it within 48 hours, whether or not you are a customer. How to request a correction.